Thumbnail of content video to provide context to ad video playback

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for displaying of thumbnails of content to be played after viewing of a video advertisement. A method includes generating a thumbnail associated with video content, the video content to be provided for playback after playback of a video advertisement, and presenting the thumbnail during the playback of the video advertisement to inform a user of the video content, wherein a skip counter indicative of time left until skipping of the video advertisement is enabled is provided, and wherein the time left is less than a remaining playing time of the video advertisement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 13/480,433 filed on May 24, 2012, entitled“THUMBNAIL OF CONTENT VIDEO TO PROVIDE CONTEXT TO AD VIDEO PLAYBACK”which further claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/565,218, filed on Nov. 30, 2011, entitled “THUMBNAIL OF CONTENT VIDEOTO PROVIDE CONTEXT TO AD VIDEO PLAYBACK”, both of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for displaying ofthumbnails of content to be played after viewing of a videoadvertisement.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, users who are shown a pre-roll in-stream videoadvertisement often times do not have context about the video theyintended to watch. Consequently, the users may be confused about what isbeing watched (e.g., the advertisement or the content to be displayedafter the advertisement), and they may abandon the video because theyare not willing to wait through the pre-roll.

SUMMARY

A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a basic orgeneral understanding of various aspects of exemplary non-limitingembodiments that follow in the more detailed description and theaccompanying drawings. This summary is not intended, however, as anextensive or exhaustive overview. Instead, the purpose of this summaryis to present some concepts related to some exemplary non-limitingembodiments in simplified form as a prelude to more detailed descriptionof the various embodiments that follow in the disclosure.

In accordance with a non-limiting implementation, a thumbnail componentgenerates a thumbnail of video content to be displayed after viewing avideo advertisement, and a presentation component presents the thumbnailprior to or during the video advertisement to inform a user of the videocontent that will be displayed after the advertisement.

In accordance with another non-limiting implementation, a thumbnail isgenerated of video content that is to be displayed after viewing a videoadvertisement, and the thumbnail is presented prior to or during thevideo advertisement to inform a user of the video content that will bedisplayed after the advertisement.

These and other implementations and embodiments are described in moredetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary non-limiting systemfor providing advertising content in conjunction with one or morethumbnails of content to be viewed after the advertisement in accordancewith an implementation of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting display of a user interfacefor providing advertising content in conjunction with one or morethumbnails of content to be viewed after the advertisement in accordancewith an implementation of this disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary non-limiting systemfor fading a displayed thumbnail in relation to a video ad in accordancewith an implementation of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary non-limiting systemfor making inferences in connection with generating thumbnails ofcontent videos in accordance with an implementation of this disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting flow diagram for presentingthumbnails of video content to be displayed after a video advertisementin accordance with an implementation of this disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting flow diagram for presentingthumbnails of video content to be displayed after a video advertisement,and skipping the video ad in accordance with an implementation of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram representing an exemplarynon-limiting operating environment in which the various embodiments canbe implemented.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram representing an exemplarynon-limiting networked computing environment in which the variousembodiments can be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OVERVIEW

Various aspects or features of this disclosure are described withreference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used torefer to like elements throughout. In this specification, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of this disclosure. It should be understood, however, thatcertain aspects of this disclosure may be practiced without thesespecific details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. Inother instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in blockdiagram form to facilitate describing this disclosure.

It is to be appreciated that in accordance with one or moreimplementations described in this disclosure, users can opt-out ofproviding personal information, demographic information, locationinformation, proprietary information, sensitive information, or the likein connection with data gathering aspects. Moreover, one or moreimplementations described herein can provide for anonymizing collected,received, or transmitted data.

By way of introduction, the subject matter described in this disclosurerelates to presentation of video advertisements (e.g., promoted videos,video ads), and providing thumbnail views of content to be played afterthe video advertisement. Conventionally, users who are shown a pre-rollin-stream video advertisement oftentimes do not have context about thevideo they intended to watch. Consequently, the users may be confusedabout what is being watched (e.g., the video advertisement or thecontent to be displayed after the advertisement), and they may abandonthe video because they are not willing to wait through the pre-rollin-stream video advertisement.

In accordance with an embodiment, a system concurrently displays tousers a video advertisement and a thumbnail view of content video to beplayed after the video advertisement being watched is completed. It isto be appreciated that the content video can be one selected by theuser, in a user's playlist, or an automatically selected content videofor the user, for example, based upon inferred interests of the user.Optionally, the thumbnail of the content video can be presented beforeplaying a pre-roll video ad to identify to the user the content videothat will be played after the video ad is completed or skipped. Forexample, this can be done while the video ad is loading. In anotheroption, the thumbnail can be tailored to fade or fill-in as theadvertisement is playing. For example, as the advertisement progressesthe thumbnail can fade in from sparse detail to richer detail. By fadingin greater detail of the upcoming content video, the user can be enticedinto completing viewing of the advertisement. Thus, greateradvertisement revenue can be generated (e.g., on a cost per view basis,or cost per length of view basis). Additionally, probability of userviewing of the upcoming content video is increased.

In addition to or instead of showing the thumbnail image before the ad,a thumbnail image can be overlaid on top of the pre-roll video ad, as apicture-in-picture. In an embodiment, pre-loading/buffering time of theadvertisement video can be used to display an explanation of why the adis showing.

In some implementations, the thumbnail image can be displayed above,below, or next to the player showing the video ad, or in any othersuitable manner. Regardless of positioning of the thumbnail, if the adwas enabled to be skipped, the user could click the thumbnail image toskip the ad and start watching the content video. It is to beappreciated that thumbnails can be interactive, such as clickable, hoverover to preview associated video content, or other interactive options.

Example Tailored Adverting Content Distribution Based on a PlaylistFormat

Referring now to the drawings, with reference initially to FIG. 1, anadvertising delivery system 100 is shown that facilitates providingadvertising content in conjunction with one or more thumbnails ofcontent to be viewed after the advertisement.

Aspects of the systems, apparatuses or processes explained in thisdisclosure can constitute machine-executable component embodied withinmachine(s), e.g., embodied in one or more non-transitory computerreadable mediums (or media) associated with one or more machines,non-limiting examples of which are illustrated in relation to FIGS. 7and 8. Such component, when executed by the one or more machines, e.g.,computer(s), computing device(s), virtual machine(s), etc. can cause themachine(s) to perform the operations described. Advertising deliverysystem 100 can include memory 102 for storing computer executablecomponents and instructions. A processor 104 can facilitate operation ofthe computer executable components and instructions by the advertisingdelivery system 100.

In a non-limiting example, advertising delivery system 100 employs athumbnail component 110, an ordering component 120, a caching component130, and a presentation component 140. In an aspect, thumbnail component110 generates one or more thumbnail views of content video(s) to bedisplayed after the video advertisement is completed or skipped.Ordering component 120 orders (ranks) respective content videos to bedisplayed after respective video advertisement(s) are viewed. Theordering of the thumbnails (which can correspond to the ordering ofcorresponding content videos to be displayed) can, for example, be afunction of determined or inferred user interest, user context,relevance to user, advertiser preference, host site preference, or othercriteria. Caching component 130 can cache respective video ads, contentvideos and associated thumbnails as a function of the ranking (e.g., toimprove streaming speed, bandwidth utilization, buffering, or resourceallocation), and presentation component 140 can transmit or presentrespective video ads, thumbnails of the content to be viewed as well asthe content video(s). Presentation component 140 also presentsadditional functions and content in connection with the advertisementand content videos (e.g., headline for the advertisement, title ofvideo, link to the video's watch page, a user voting or ranking feature(e.g., +1, like, dislike . . . ), learn more feature, countdown for timeleft in the advertisement, countdown of time left before theadvertisement can be skipped . . . ).

Additionally, advertising delivery system 100 includes a memory 150 thatcan store video ads, content videos, and content thumbnails, as well as,data generated by thumbnail component 110, ordering component 120,caching component 130, and presentation component 140. Memory 150 can bestored on any suitable type of storage device, non-limiting examples ofwhich are illustrated with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.

The video ads, the content videos, or associated thumbnails can includedata associated with one or more data sources (not shown) that can beaccessed by a client device (not shown) or by a content delivery systemsuch as advertising delivery system 100 (and additional systemsdescribed in this disclosure). For example, a data source can include adata store storing media content and affiliated with a content providerthat interacts with the advertising delivery system 100. In anotheraspect, a data source can include a data store that stores media contentremote from a content provider or an advertising delivery system 100.

A client device can include any suitable computing device associatedwith a user and configured to interact with or receive media content.For example, a client device can include a mobile device, a mobilephone, personal data assistant, laptop computer, tablet computer,desktop computer, server system, cable set top box, satellite set topbox, cable modem, television set, media extender device, blu-ray device,DVD (digital versatile disc or digital video disc) device, compact discdevice, video game system, audio/video receiver, radio device, portablemusic player, navigation system, car stereo, etc. Moreover, a clientdevice can include a user interface (e.g., a web browser orapplication), that can receive and present displays and generatedlocally or remotely. It is to be appreciated that advertising deliverysystem 100 can be remote from the client device or can be includedwithin the client device. As used in this disclosure, the terms “contentconsumer” or “user” refer to a person, entity, system, or combinationthereof that employ advertising delivery system 100 (or additionalsystems described in this disclosure). In an aspect, a client device oradvertising delivery system 100 (or additional systems described in thisdisclosure) can be configured to access media content via a wired orwireless network, such as for example the Internet, intranet, orcellular service.

Thumbnail component 110 generates thumbnails of content videos. In anon-limiting example, thumbnail component 110 can extract a thumbnailfrom metadata associated with a content video, for example a thumbnailthat is supplied by the publisher of the content video. In anothernon-limiting example, thumbnail component 110 can analyze the content ofa content video and select a video frame from the content video that isrepresentative of the content video as the thumbnail. In a furtherexample, thumbnail component 110 can analyze the content of a contentvideo and select a plurality of frames representative of the contentvideo to form a collage as the thumbnail. Furthermore, thumbnailcomponent 110 can take into account information associated with a userthat will view the content after the video advertisement to generate athumbnail relevant to that user. For example, user preferences such asstored in a user profile or inferred by monitoring past userinteractions with content videos or other content can be employed todetermine user interest in order to generate a thumbnail that isrelevant to the user.

In a non-limiting example, thumbnail component 110 can generatethumbnails as a function of inferred or determined user interest, forexample, based on user preferences, historical views, user context, userlocation, user queries, etc. In a non-limiting example, thumbnailcomponent 110 can determine thumbnails that are likely to be of interestto a user, for example using artificial intelligence, by examining logsstoring user interaction with content, non-limiting examples or whichinclude, user context, searches, navigation of a content, viewingcontent, social networking, browsing content, rating content, rankingcontent, purchasing content, like indication of content, dislikeindication of content, and/or comments or annotations applied tocontent. In another example, user preferences stored in a user profileand/or inferred by monitoring user interaction with the client devicecan be employed to determine thumbnails of interest to a user. In afurther example, user profiles for a user and/or friends of a user canprovide shared preference settings or inferences of thumbnails that areof interest to groups of users. It is to be appreciated that anycriteria can be employed for determining which thumbnails may be ofinterest to a user. Thumbnail component 110 can generate and associate athumbnail to a content video based upon determinations of user interest.

Caching component 130 can cache video ads, content videos, or associatedthumbnails in the memory 150 as a function of respective ordering ofthereof. Caching component 130 can store cached media files/content(e.g. video ads, content videos, associated thumbnails, or other digitalmedia) so that future requests for respective media files can be servedquickly. The cached media files can be duplicates of correspondingsections of original media files which may be stored elsewhere. If thecached media files are requested, the request can be served by simplyreading the cache, which is comparatively faster than reading theoriginal media files. Hence, the greater the number of requests that canbe served from the cached section, the faster overall performance ofadvertising delivery system 100 becomes. The cached media can be agedout of or persisted in the memory 150 as a function of ranking,staleness, relevance, etc. In an embodiment, multiple levels of cachecan be employed; respective sections of media can be cached inrespective caches as a function of ranking, ordering, demand, etc. Forexample, highest performance cache can be allocated to highest rankedand in most demand media files.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, presentation component 140 can generate adisplay 200 that displays a video advertisement player 210 and athumbnail 212 of video content to be displayed after a videoadvertisement 213. To facilitate user comprehension of what videoadvertisement 213 is being viewed, and what content video is upcoming,the presentation component can provide a variety of information andfunctionalities to enhance user viewing experience. In a non-limitingexample, presentation component 140 can display an advertisementheadline 214. When video ad 213 initially begins playing, anadvertisement headline 214 can be shown for video ad 213 in theupper-left corner of the player, for example, over a semi-transparentbackground. It is to be appreciated that the functional and textfeatures described in this document are not limited to any particularlocation or context, and can be provisioned in any suitable manner orlocation. For example, advertisement headline 214 can automatically fadeafter G seconds (G is an integer) but reappear if the user hovers acursor/pointer over anywhere on the video advertisement player 210. Inanother example, if video ad 213 does not have an advertisement headline214, optionally a title of video ad 213 can be displayed instead. Ifvideo ad 213 is hosted on a website, the title can link to the videoad's watch page. Furthermore, hovering over the title can showmouse-over text revealing a promotional slogan or the like related tovideo ad 213. Additionally, advertisement text 218 can be displayed, forexample, at a bottom portion of the player. In a non-limiting example,advertisement text 218 can be static or dynamic text associated withvideo ad 213. In a further non-limiting example, advertisement text 218can be customized to the user watching the video ad, for example, basedon user preferences and/or interest.

Presentation component 140 can also provide a rating feature 216 (e.g.,+1, −1, like, dislike rating feature . . . ) that allows the user torate of video ad 213. Additionally, in a non-limiting example, hoveringover the +1 button can show a +1 annotation which indicates who else hasor the number of other who have +1'd video ad 213. For example,indications can be provided of friends of the user who have +1'd videoad 213.

Presentation component 140 can also provide a learn more button 230.Learn more button 230 can, for example, appear in yellow at the bottommiddle area of the player, above video playback controls (not shown). Itis to be appreciated that learn more button 230 can be displayed in anysuitable manner or characteristics, non-limiting examples of whichinclude color, shape, size, position, icon, or text. Learn more button230 is clickable and can link the user to an advertiser's siteassociated with video ad 213, for example, where additional informationregarding products or services associated with video ad 213 can beobtained or purchases can be made. In a non-limiting example, when theuser clicks on the in-stream video ad 213, the video ad 213 can bepaused, similar to the interactions for a content video.

In addition, presentation component 140 can provide an advertisementcounter 232 that displays playing time left in video advertisement 213.Advertisement counter 232 can, for example, be placed directly right ofthe “Advertisement” text in the bottom left of the player. Doing so, canmitigate confusion associated with a skip counter 250 that count downsfor when the user can skip video ad 213, if video ad 213 is skippable.For example, in a non-limiting example, a user may be required to watchthe entire video advertisement 213 before being able to watch a contentvideo. In this case, a skip counter 250 may not be presented. In anothernon-limiting example, a user may only be required to watch a certainportion (skip threshold) of video ad 213 before being able to view thecontent video. As such, skip counter 250 can reflect the time remainingbefore the user can leave video ad 213 and watch the content video. Itis to be appreciated that a selectable skip button (not shown) can bedisplayed after the skip counter has reached a skip threshold thatallows for skipping video ad 213. In another non-limiting example, thumbnail 212 can be enabled to be selected for skipping video 213 after theskip counter has reached the skip threshold that allows for skippingvideo ad 213. It is to be appreciated that the skip threshold can bebased on a predetermined fixed length of playback time of a video ad, apercentage of playback time of the video ad, a dynamically adjustedlength of playback time of a video ad, a length of playback time of avideo ad based upon a length of content video to be viewed after thevideo ad, or other criteria.

In a further non-limiting example, presentation component 140 can alsodisplay (e.g., as a function of the ordering) additional thumbnails 260of additional video content that can be viewed after the current contentvideo, represented by thumbnail 212. It is to be appreciated that theadditional video content may require viewing of additional videoadvertisements.

Additionally, presentation component 140 can present content viewingoptions for use with any suitable type of client device that receivesmedia files. Client devices often have different capabilities andlimitations (e.g., screen size, processors, decoders . . . ). In anaspect, the presentation component 140 can provide presentation optionsin accordance with different client device capabilities or limitations.For example, data rendering capabilities may be more limited in a mobiledevice (e.g., a smart-phone) than in a fixed computing device (e.g., adesktop computer), such as a larger percentage of client deviceprocessing resources may be required to present a media file, such as avideo (or other information), on the mobile device than would berequired in viewing the same media file on a fixed computing device. Inaddition, because displays of various mobile devices are often smallerand/or lower resolution than displays in fixed computing devices, it maybe possible only to display a relatively small amount of information atany given time on a mobile device. Presentation component 140 can thusoptimize display of options and content for respective devices.Furthermore, data connections between a mobile device and variousnetworked resources (e.g., the Internet) may be slower thancorresponding data connections between a fixed computing device and thesame networked resources. Accordingly, presentation component 140 cangenerate user options to account for variations in device capabilitiesand available bandwidth for consumption and rendering of media content.For example, differing format or resolution versions of the same mediafile can be presented based upon client device capabilities andlimitations. In a non-limiting example, a video ad, thumbnail or contentvideo can be presented in a highly compressed encoding format and withlower resolution to a mobile device over a wireless network, while alower compressed encoding format and higher resolution version of thesame video ad, thumbnail or content video can be presented to a desktopcomputer on a wired network.

In view of the above, in an aspect, the presentation component 140 canpresent media content in various formats and/or in accordance withvarious display mediums. For example, in one embodiment, presentationcomponent 140 can present a section of video in a format such as H.263,H.264 AVC, MPEG-4 SP, VP8, or other suitable format. In anotherembodiment the presentation component 140 may present an audio sectionin formats such as for example AAC LC/LTP, HE-AACv1(AAC+), HE-AACv2(enhanced AAC+), AMR-NB, AMR-WB, FLAC, MP3, MIDI, Vorbis, PCM/WAVE, etc.

In an aspect, presentation component 140 can automatically configure orpresent user options to consume media content based on encodingparameters such as video resolution, video frame rate, video bit rate,video codec, audio codec, audio channels, audio bit rate, etc. Thus,presentation component 140 or a user may choose a format to consumemedia content that best suits capabilities of specific consumptionmediums, available bandwidth, file size, processing capabilities, screenresolution, screen size, available encoders, available decoders, etc.

Turning now to FIG. 3, also with reference to FIG. 2, presented isanother non-limiting example of an advertising delivery system 300 inaccordance with the subject disclosure. Advertising delivery system 300employs thumbnail component 110, ordering component 120, cachingcomponent 130, presentation component 140, fading component 310, memory102, memory 150, and cached sections 160. In an aspect, advertisingdelivery system 300 facilitates fading a thumbnail(s) in relation to avideo ad. In non-limiting example, presentation component 140 employs afading component 310 to control fading of a thumbnail in relation to avideo ad. Fading component 310 can fade in or fade out respectivethumbnails 212, 260 as a function of a variety of metrics. In anon-limiting example, as the video advertisement 213 progresses, thethumbnail 212 can increase in detail, resolution, color, opaqueness,and/or size, thereby enticing the user to finish watching the videoadvertisement 213. In addition fading component 310, can apply othertransforms to the respective thumbnails 212, 260, such x/y translations.Furthermore, additional information, such as text or graphics, about theupcoming video content to be displayed after the video advertisement 213can be added and/or removed as part of the fading to further entice theuser to watch the video advertisement. It is to further be appreciatedthat the additional information can be presented in a glanceable manner,so as not to overly distract the user from the video ad. In anon-limiting example, fading component 310 can fade in or out athumbnail after a predetermined fading threshold, such as, a fixedlength of playback time of a video ad, a percentage of playback time ofthe video ad, a dynamically adjusted length of playback time of a videoad, a length of playback time of a video ad based upon a length ofcontent video to be viewed after the video ad, or other criteria.Furthermore, the rate of fading can be fixed or dynamically adjusted,for example, as a function of the amount of playback time left for thevideo ad.

Referring now to FIG. 4, presented is another non-limiting example of anadvertising delivery system 400 in accordance with the subjectdisclosure. Advertising delivery system 400 employs thumbnail component110, ordering component 120, inference component 410, caching component130, presentation component 140, memory 102, memory 150, and cachedsections 160. In an aspect, advertising delivery system 300 facilitatesinferring user interest in order to generate a thumbnail for a contentvideo that is to be played for a user after a video advertisement. Innon-limiting example, ordering component 120 employs an inferencecomponent 410 infer user interests. In a non-limiting example, orderingcomponent 120 can employ an inference component 410 to facilitate makinginferences or determinations in connection with generating thumbnailsfor video content. In an aspect, inference component 410 can infer userdesirability of a thumbnail based on a plurality of factors includingbut not limited to, user interest, monitored information includingcharacteristics and features of media content, user preference, userdemographics, user location, user viewing intent, or any other criteriaassociated with users, content, or video ads.

In order to provide for or aid in the numerous inferences described inthis disclosure (for example, inferring characteristics associated withmedia files, video ads, and/or users), inference component 410 canexamine the entirety or a subset of data to which it is granted accessand can provide for reasoning about or inferring relevancy to anddesirability of viewing respective content sections by respectivecontent consumers. An inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. An inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents or data.

Such inference can result in construction of new events or actions froma set of observed events or stored event data, whether or not the eventsare correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the events anddata come from one or several event and data sources. Variousclassification (explicitly or implicitly trained) schemes or systems(e.g., support vector machines, neural networks, expert systems,Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, data fusion engines, etc.) can beemployed in connection with performing automatic or inferred action inconnection with the claimed subject matter.

A classifier can map an input attribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn),to a confidence that the input belongs to a class, such as byf(x)=confidence(class). Such classification can employ a probabilisticor statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysisutilities and costs) to prognose or infer an action that a user desiresto be automatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is anexample of a classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates byfinding a hyper-surface in the space of possible inputs, where thehyper-surface attempts to split the triggering criteria from thenon-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classificationcorrect for testing data that is near, but not identical to trainingdata. Other directed and undirected model classification approachesinclude, e.g., naive Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification modelsproviding different patterns of independence can be employed.Classification as used in this disclosure also is inclusive ofstatistical regression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate various methodologies in accordance withcertain aspects of this disclosure. While, for purposes of simplicity ofexplanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series ofacts, the disclosed subject matter is not limited by the order of acts,as some acts may occur in different orders and/or concurrently withother acts from that shown and described herein. For example, thoseskilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology canalternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states orevents, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all illustrated actsmay be required to implement a methodology in accordance with thedisclosed subject matter. Additionally, it is to be appreciated that themethodologies disclosed in this disclosure are capable of being storedon an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting and transferringsuch methodologies to computers or other computing devices.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary methodology 500 for presentingthumbnails of video content to be displayed after a video advertisementis illustrated. At 502, a video ad is presented to a user (e.g., bypresentation component 140). At 504, a thumbnail of video content to beviewed after the advertisement has been watched or skipped is presentedwhile the video ad is presented (e.g., by thumbnail component 110,ordering component 120, and/or presentation component 140). It is to beappreciated that the thumbnail can optionally be displayed prior to theadvertisement being displayed. At 506, the thumbnail can be optionallymodified (e.g., by fading component 310). At 508, the video ad canoptionally be skipped (e.g., if the ad is skippable) in order to viewthe video content associated with the thumbnail (e.g., by thumbnailcomponent 110 and/or presentation component 140).

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exemplary methodology 600 for presentingthumbnails of video content to be displayed after a video advertisement,and skipping the video ad is illustrated. At 602, a video ad ispresented to a user (e.g., by presentation component 140). At 604, athumbnail of video content to be viewed after the advertisement has beenwatched or skipped is presented while the video ad is presented (e.g.,by thumbnail component 110, ordering component 120, and/or presentationcomponent 140). It is to be appreciated that the thumbnail canoptionally be displayed prior to the advertisement being displayed. At606, a skip counter is presented to user showing an amount of timebefore the user can skip the video ad and begin playing the videocontent (e.g., by presentation component 140). At 608, a determinationis made whether the skip counter has reached the end of its count suchthat a user can make a selection to skip the video ad and begin playingthe content video (e.g., by presentation component 140). If thedetermination at 608 is “NO” or false, indicating that the counter hasnot reached the end of its count, the method will proceed to 608. If thedetermination is “YES” or true, indicating that the counter has reachedthe end of its count, the method will proceed to 610. At 610, adetermination is made whether input is receiving from a user indicatingthat they would like to skip the video ad (e.g., by presentationcomponent 140). If the determination at 610 is “NO” or false, indicatingthat the user has not provided input indicating that they would like toskip the video ad, the method will proceed to 612.

If the determination is “YES” or true, indicating that the user hasprovided input indicating that they would like to skip the video ad, themethod will proceed to 614. At 612, a determination is made whether thevideo ad has reached the end of its playback (e.g., by presentationcomponent 140). If the determination at 612 is “NO” or false, indicatingthat video ad has not reached the end of its playback, the method willproceed to 610. If the determination is “YES” or true, indicating thatvideo ad has reached the end of its playback, the method will proceed to614. At 614, the content video is played for the user (e.g., bypresentation component 140).

In view of the exemplary systems described above, methodologies that maybe implemented in accordance with the described subject matter will bebetter appreciated with reference to the flowcharts of the variousfigures. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, themethodologies are shown and described as a series of blocks, it is to beunderstood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter is notlimited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described in this disclosure. Where non-sequential, orbranched, flow is illustrated via flowchart, it can be appreciated thatvarious other branches, flow paths, and orders of the blocks, may beimplemented which achieve the same or a similar result. Moreover, notall illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologiesdescribed hereinafter.

In addition to the various embodiments described in this disclosure, itis to be understood that other similar embodiments can be used ormodifications and additions can be made to the described embodiment(s)for performing the same or equivalent function of the correspondingembodiment(s) without deviating there from. Still further, multipleprocessing chips or multiple devices can share the performance of one ormore functions described in this disclosure, and similarly, storage canbe effected across a plurality of devices. Accordingly, the invention isnot to be limited to any single embodiment, but rather can be construedin breadth, spirit and scope in accordance with the appended claims.

Example Operating Environments

The systems and processes described below can be embodied withinhardware, such as a single integrated circuit (IC) chip, multiple ICs,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. Further,the order in which some or all of the process blocks appear in eachprocess should not be deemed limiting. Rather, it should be understoodthat some of the process blocks can be executed in a variety of orders,not all of which may be explicitly illustrated in this disclosure.

With reference to FIG. 7, a suitable environment 700 for implementingvarious aspects of the claimed subject matter includes a computer 702.The computer 702 includes a processing unit 704, a system memory 706, acodec 705, and a system bus 708. The system bus 708 couples systemcomponents including, but not limited to, the system memory 706 to theprocessing unit 704. The processing unit 704 can be any of variousavailable processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessorarchitectures also can be employed as the processing unit 704.

The system bus 708 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, Industrial StandardArchitecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA(EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus(USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and SmallComputer Systems Interface (SCSI).

The system memory 706 includes volatile memory 710 and non-volatilememory 712. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer702, such as during start-up, is stored in non-volatile memory 712. Inaddition, according to present innovations, codec 705 may include atleast one of an encoder or decoder, wherein the at least one of anencoder or decoder may consist of hardware, a combination of hardwareand software, or software. Although, codec 705 is depicted as a separatecomponent, codec 705 may be contained within non-volatile memory 712. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, non-volatile memory 712 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory 710 includes random accessmemory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. According to presentaspects, the volatile memory may store the write operation retry logic(not shown in FIG. 7) and the like. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM),dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM(DDR SDRAM), and enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM.

Computer 702 may also include removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage medium. FIG. 7 illustrates, forexample, disk storage 714. Disk storage 714 includes, but is not limitedto, devices like a magnetic disk drive, solid state disk (SSD) floppydisk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-70 drive, flash memorycard, or memory stick. In addition, disk storage 714 can include storagemedium separately or in combination with other storage medium including,but not limited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROMdevice (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive(CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). Tofacilitate connection of the disk storage devices 714 to the system bus708, a removable or non-removable interface is typically used, such asinterface 716.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 7 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described inthe suitable operating environment 700. Such software includes anoperating system 718. Operating system 718, which can be stored on diskstorage 714, acts to control and allocate resources of the computersystem 702. Applications 720 take advantage of the management ofresources by operating system 718 through program modules 724, andprogram data 726, such as the boot/shutdown transaction table and thelike, stored either in system memory 706 or on disk storage 714. It isto be appreciated that the claimed subject matter can be implementedwith various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 702 throughinput device(s) 728. Input devices 728 include, but are not limited to,a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 704through the system bus 708 via interface port(s) 730. Interface port(s)730 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port,and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 736 use some of thesame type of ports as input device(s) 728. Thus, for example, a USB portmay be used to provide input to computer 702, and to output informationfrom computer 702 to an output device 736. Output adapter 734 isprovided to illustrate that there are some output devices 736 likemonitors, speakers, and printers, among other output devices 736, whichrequire special adapters. The output adapters 734 include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide ameans of connection between the output device 736 and the system bus708. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devicesprovide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s)738.

Computer 702 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)738. The remote computer(s) 738 can be a personal computer, a server, arouter, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, apeer device, a smart phone, a tablet, or other network node, andtypically includes many of the elements described relative to computer702. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 740 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 738. Remote computer(s) 738 islogically connected to computer 702 through a network interface 742 andthen connected via communication connection(s) 744. Network interface742 encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networks such aslocal-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN) and cellularnetworks. LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface(FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ringand the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to,point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packetswitching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 744 refers to the hardware/software employedto connect the network interface 742 to the bus 708. While communicationconnection 744 is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer 702, itcan also be external to computer 702. The hardware/software necessaryfor connection to the network interface 742 includes, for exemplarypurposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modemsincluding regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems,ISDN adapters, and wired and wireless Ethernet cards, hubs, and routers.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a schematic block diagramof a computing environment 800 in accordance with this disclosure. Thesystem 800 includes one or more client(s) 802 (e.g., laptops, smartphones, PDAs, media players, computers, portable electronic devices,tablets, and the like). The client(s) 802 can be hardware and/orsoftware (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The system 800also includes one or more server(s) 804. The server(s) 804 can also behardware or hardware in combination with software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The servers 804 can house threads toperform transformations by employing aspects of this disclosure, forexample. One possible communication between a client 802 and a server804 can be in the form of a data packet transmitted between two or morecomputer processes wherein the data packet may include video data. Thedata packet can include a metadata, e.g., associated contextualinformation, for example. The system 800 includes a communicationframework 806 (e.g., a global communication network such as theInternet, or mobile network(s)) that can be employed to facilitatecommunications between the client(s) 802 and the server(s) 804.

Communications can be facilitated via a wired (including optical fiber)and/or wireless technology. The client(s) 802 include or are operativelyconnected to one or more client data store(s) 808 that can be employedto store information local to the client(s) 802 (e.g., associatedcontextual information). Similarly, the server(s) 804 are operativelyinclude or are operatively connected to one or more server data store(s)810 that can be employed to store information local to the servers 804.

In one embodiment, a client 802 can transfer an encoded file, inaccordance with the disclosed subject matter, to server 804. Server 804can store the file, decode the file, or transmit the file to anotherclient 802. It is to be appreciated, that a client 802 can also transferuncompressed file to a server 804 and server 804 can compress the filein accordance with the disclosed subject matter. Likewise, server 804can encode video information and transmit the information viacommunication framework 806 to one or more clients 802.

The illustrated aspects of the disclosure may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed byremote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Moreover, it is to be appreciated that various components described inthis description can include electrical circuit(s) that can includecomponents and circuitry elements of suitable value in order toimplement the embodiments of the subject innovation(s). Furthermore, itcan be appreciated that many of the various components can beimplemented on one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips. For example,in one embodiment, a set of components can be implemented in a single ICchip. In other embodiments, one or more of respective components arefabricated or implemented on separate IC chips.

What has been described above includes examples of the embodiments ofthe present invention. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing the claimed subject matter, but it is to be appreciated thatmany further combinations and permutations of the subject innovation arepossible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embraceall such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within thespirit and scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the above descriptionof illustrated embodiments of the subject disclosure, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. While specificembodiments and examples are described in this disclosure forillustrative purposes, various modifications are possible that areconsidered within the scope of such embodiments and examples, as thoseskilled in the relevant art can recognize.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms used to describe such components are intended to correspond,unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs thespecified function of the described component (e.g., a functionalequivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosedstructure, which performs the function in the disclosure illustratedexemplary aspects of the claimed subject matter. In this regard, it willalso be recognized that the innovation includes a system as well as acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructionsfor performing the acts and/or events of the various methods of theclaimed subject matter.

The aforementioned systems/circuits/modules have been described withrespect to interaction between several components/blocks. It can beappreciated that such systems/circuits and components/blocks can includethose components or specified sub-components, some of the specifiedcomponents or sub-components, and/or additional components, andaccording to various permutations and combinations of the foregoing.Sub-components can also be implemented as components communicativelycoupled to other components rather than included within parentcomponents (hierarchical). Additionally, it should be noted that one ormore components may be combined into a single component providingaggregate functionality or divided into several separate sub-components,and any one or more middle layers, such as a management layer, may beprovided to communicatively couple to such sub-components in order toprovide integrated functionality. Any components described in thisdisclosure may also interact with one or more other components notspecifically described in this disclosure but known by those of skill inthe art.

In addition, while a particular feature of the subject innovation mayhave been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations,such feature may be combined with one or more other features of theother implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any givenor particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms“includes,” “including,” “has,” “contains,” variants thereof, and othersimilar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims,these terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising” as an open transition word without precluding anyadditional or other elements.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system,”or the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either hardware (e.g., a circuit), a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or an entity related to an operational machine withone or more specific functionalities. For example, a component may be,but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor (e.g.,digital signal processor), a processor, an object, an executable, athread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a controller and thecontroller can be a component. One or more components may reside withina process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized onone computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Further,a “device” can come in the form of specially designed hardware;generalized hardware made specialized by the execution of softwarethereon that enables the hardware to perform specific function; softwarestored on a computer readable storage medium; software transmitted on acomputer readable transmission medium; or a combination thereof.

Moreover, the words “example” or “exemplary” are used in this disclosureto mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect ordesign described in this disclosure as “exemplary” is not necessarily tobe construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.Rather, use of the words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to presentconcepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, the term“or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media and/or communications media, inwhich these two terms are used in this description differently from oneanother as follows. Computer-readable storage media can be any availablestorage media that can be accessed by the computer, is typically of anon-transitory nature, and can include both volatile and nonvolatilemedia, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable storage media can be implemented inconnection with any method or technology for storage of information suchas computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured data, orunstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical diskstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitorymedia which can be used to store desired information. Computer-readablestorage media can be accessed by one or more local or remote computingdevices, e.g., via access requests, queries or other data retrievalprotocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the informationstored by the medium.

On the other hand, communications media typically embodycomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother structured or unstructured data in a data signal that can betransitory such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave orother transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery ortransport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refers to asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way ofexample, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

In view of the exemplary systems described above, methodologies that maybe implemented in accordance with the described subject matter will bebetter appreciated with reference to the flowcharts of the variousfigures. For simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are depictedand described as a series of acts. However, acts in accordance with thisdisclosure can occur in various orders and/or concurrently, and withother acts not presented and described in this disclosure. Furthermore,not all illustrated acts may be required to implement the methodologiesin accordance with certain aspects of this disclosure. In addition,those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that themethodologies could alternatively be represented as a series ofinterrelated states via a state diagram or events. Additionally, itshould be appreciated that the methodologies disclosed in thisdisclosure are capable of being stored on an article of manufacture tofacilitate transporting and transferring such methodologies to computingdevices. The term article of manufacture, as used in this disclosure, isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or storage media.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: generating a thumbnailassociated with video content, the video content to be provided forplayback after playback of a video advertisement; and presenting thethumbnail during the playback of the video advertisement to inform auser of the video content, wherein a skip counter indicative of timeleft until skipping of the video advertisement is enabled is provided,and wherein the time left is less than a remaining playing time of thevideo advertisement.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising fadingin detail of the thumbnail as the advertisement progresses.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving user rating inputregarding the advertisement video or the video content.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising displaying a selectable learn more buttonlinked to a website associated with the advertisement.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising displaying an advertisement counter thatdisplays time left until playback of the advertisement video iscomplete.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying aselectable skip to video content button enabled to end display of thevideo advertisement and begin display of the video content.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising enabling the selectable skip tovideo content button after a predetermined playing time of the videoadvertisement has completed.
 8. A system, comprising: a memory havingstored thereon computer executable components; and a processorconfigured to execute the following computer executable componentsstored in the memory: a thumbnail component that generates a thumbnailassociated with video content, the video content to be provided forplayback after playback of a video advertisement; and a presentationcomponent that presents the thumbnail during the playback of the videoadvertisement to inform a user of the video content, wherein a skipcounter indicative of time left until skipping the video advertisementis enabled is provided, and wherein the time left is less than aremaining playing time of the video advertisement.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, further comprising a fading component that increases resolutionof the thumbnail as the advertisement progresses.
 10. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the presentation component displays a rating functionthat receives user rating input regarding the video advertisement or thevideo content.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the presentationcomponent displays a selectable learn more button linked to a websiteassociated with the video advertisement.
 12. The system of claim 8,wherein the presentation component displays an advertisement counterthat displays time left until playback of the displayed videoadvertisement is complete.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein thepresentation component displays a selectable skip to video contentbutton enabled to end display of the video advertisement and begindisplay of the video content.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein theselectable skip to video content button is enabled after a predeterminedplaying time of the video advertisement has completed.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, in response to execution, cause at least one device toperform operations comprising: generating a thumbnail associated withvideo content, the video content to be provided for playback afterplayback of a video advertisement; and presenting the thumbnail duringthe playback of the video advertisement to inform a user of the videocontent, wherein a skip counter indicative of time left until skippingof the video advertisement is enabled is provided, and wherein the timeleft is less than a remaining playing time of the video advertisement.16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theat least one device is to perform operations further comprisingreceiving user rating input regarding the advertisement video or thevideo content.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim15, wherein the at least one device is to perform operations furthercomprising displaying a selectable learn more button linked to a websiteassociated with the advertisement.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the at least one device isto perform operations further comprising displaying an advertisementcounter that displays time left until playback of the advertisementvideo is complete.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 15, wherein the at least one device is to perform operationsfurther comprising displaying a selectable skip to video content buttonenabled to end display of the video advertisement and begin display ofthe video content.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 19, wherein the at least one device is to perform operationsfurther comprising enabling the selectable skip to video content buttonafter a predetermined playing time of the video advertisement hascompleted.